The module considers issues of theory and practice surrounding the theme of 'presenting the past' in three main sections: modern origins; national and imperial developments; and contemporary issues. Indicative aspects include the development of public museums and collections in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; links to national identity and imperialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; 'history from below' and uses of oral testimony; history, documentary 'truth' and filmic representation; the recent debates concerning history and heritage; explaining the current vogue for history in the media. The module content is also placed within the wider context of recent work on history and memory. Examples of contemporary presentations of the past suitable for examination include the film 'Braveheart'; Simon Schama's History of Britain TV series; the Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, and its use of multi-media presentations; British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Bristol; People's History Museum, Manchester.

The lectures will introduce the main themes and arguments of the module content including video extracts and slides. The seminars will provide for follow-up discussion of the themes from the lectures and guidance on research. The independent study element should be used for background reading, reading for the seminars, and research and preparation of the written assignments. Where possible local specialists from museums and the media will be invited to make lecture or other contributions to the module. Individual and where possible group visits to museums and/or film screenings will also be encouraged.

Recommended library books, journals and videos.
University networked computers for internet research.
E-mail module discussion list, or VLE component to facilitate discussion if set up by tutor.
Visits to local museums and/or film screenings.

Barta, Tony (ed.) Screening the Past: Film and the Representation of History, Praeger, Westport, CT, 1998
Boswell, David & Evans, Jessica (eds.) Representing the Nation - A Reader: Histories, Heritage and Museums, Routledge, London, 1999
Burke, Peter Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence, Reaktion, London, 2001
Coombes, Annie Reinventing Africa: Museums, Material Culture and Popular Imagination in Late Victorian and Edwardian Britain, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1994
Jordanova, Ludmilla History in Practice, Arnold, Arnold, 2000
Kavanagh, Gaynor (ed.) Making History in Museums, Leicester Univ. Press, London, 1996
Kean, Hilda et al. (eds.) Seeing History: Public History in Britain Now, Francis Bootle, London, 2000
Lowenthal, David The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History, C.U.P, Cambridge, 1998
Mandler, Peter History and National Life, Profile, London, 2002
Monk, Claire & Sargeant, Amy (eds.) British Historical Cinema : The History, Heritage and Costume film, Routledge, London, 2002
Rosenstone, Robert Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to Our Idea of History, Harvard Univ. Press, Cambs Mass., 1995
Simpson, Moira Making Representations: Museums in the Post-Colonial Era, Routledge, London, 1996
Walsh, Kevin T. The Representation of the Past: Museums and Heritage in the Post-Modern World, Routledge, London, 1992

Assignment [Learning outcomes 1,2, 3] (Topic assignment)
Assignment - Second Assignment[Learning outcomes 1,2, 4] (Review Assignment)